I live in the UK and tomorrow we are going to a car dealer with a view to trade in our quite new Tesla for another EV so we no longer have to be associated with that despicable man or give him any more money than we have to.
We share your pain and thank you for joining are crusade against fascism. If we could only rip his Nazi arm off and shove it up his ass it would be a good start.
Please accept my compliments. Both the UK and Canada have demonstrated adult behavior in the face of rantings from our pair of demented toddlers.
And, BTW, please get the UK back into the EU. Europe needs united commercial and military strength. America is no longer to be relied upon. In fact, America might be the enemy. Get with it! Someone has to stand up for Democracy!
We’d love to be back in the EU - didn’t vote to leave. We miss the freedom of movement and think many didn’t understand what they were giving up. Then of course there was the Russian interference in the election.
No reason why Canada couldn’t join the EU if the people decided that was in their best interest. After all, the UK kept the pound so Canada could keep the Canadian dollar. And unlike the US, Canada is on the Metric system so no change there needed.
It’s fascinating how similar our dilemmas have become. Many Americans also “didn’t understand what they were giving up.” And Russians also interfered in our election.
Boycott! Don't give a cent of your money to supporters of Trump if at all possible. Do your research. See latinofreeze.com. Shop local. Save as much as you can.
Money is power...therefore, no money, no power. TSLA is dropping like a ball of lead, as is Elno's net worth. Can't keep borrowing on a sinking asset, and reckoning is just round the corner. "Market forces" and all that.
Then he will truly rely on DoD contracts. If he had been so concerned about his non DoD wealth, he wouldn't have driven Twitter and Tesla into the ground.
Anyone who can afford to do so, should give their TESLA to the poorer folks who have to commute to work and need to save on gas, this is especially true in places like CA.
I have a neighbors who have had these cars for many years, and they almost never drive because they either work from home or are retired. It would do a lot of good regarding climate change if those who needed to drive longer distances but who can't afford an EV, were given them for free.
Then some good could come out of this.
Someone needs to organize a giveaway and have people who desperately need these cars apply.
And just how do you go about "choosing" a poor person to give it to? If you've got enough money to give away a Tesla, donate the money to a good cause.
No they’re not. They don’t need to - we know not to support people like Mr Musk now. We haven’t bought anything from Amazon for years for - any business owner who becomes a billionaire is not paying his workers enough. No one achieves alone. However they don’t all become as toxic as Musk. Unfortunately we can’t afford to give our car away though we can afford to lose a little on the sale. If I were to donate it I would choose someone who publicly recanted on having voted for Brexit.
Here in the US, we've seen quite a few Teslas with bumper stickers that say something along the lines of, "Bought this before we knew he was a fascist, sorry."
I appreciate your effort but you know with the tariffs from Trump all car prices are going to go up except for Tesla if you can afford to protest bless you if you can't take the hit at least leave a sign on the dash that says I'm having trouble selling this car I don't support the fascist Elon Musk
They like what they got even better than they expected. The felon is still riding a 51% approval rating. Stories about buyer’s remorse are anecdotal at best. The price of eggs was just an excuse.
Rex, yes (unfortunately). And we would do well to remember that the wealthy still have their tax breaks; dividends; trusts; and secure jobs - they LIKE this! The true MAGA zealots are gloating (and “ can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs”). And the working class who have already lost their jobs (& the many more who are about to) will cling to their vote choice until they are confronted with their reality, BUT they won’t be happy and they won’t reject him willingly. That’s how he’s still got 51pc support.
Well, they didn't know or care about the first two (economy or world peace), but they were definitely all in on "owning the libs." It's what they live for, even if their sucky lives continue to stay sucky
In fairness, Elizabeth, it’s really hard to keep up with the tsunami of shit coming out of this joke of an administration. One minute it’s collaboration with Putin, the next it’s pulling $400 million from a major university and right after that it’s that frog running HHS taking selfies hiking somewhere while people are dying of measles. It’s just one goddamned thing after another, and it never stops.
I fear it is going to take some Luigi moments to bring the madness down. I could see tRump leaning into the tRumpcession and a few Oligarchs who get hurt particularly badly arranging for him and Melon to have little 'accidents.
In order to short something, there has to be something left to win. Chaos only works in the favor of those who want to destroy in order to establish something else. That's what the 2025 movement is all about. They came to the conclusion that they'd never have the votes to establish the world they want to see because "the people" don't know what's good for them.
Look at abortion. Roe VS Wade was struck down and women still have fairly good access to abortion. They don't have the votes, and will never have the votes, to enact the sort of legislation that would make the draconian changes they want to see. That means democracy needs to go.
Well, a lot of women -those in blue states, and those in red states who can travel - still have fairly easy access to abortion. But a lot of women, those in most red states, don't. And even for those women who can afford to travel - sometimes pregnancy complications can trap them in a "no abortion while there's a heartbeat" nightmare as they bleed away, or develop sepsis, where travel isn't possible.
Government by extortion is the only way Trump knows. He is after all an extortionist. And Trump's approach to economics, well it more resembles SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME. Like a child the economy is quite fragile at this time, thanks to FASCIST Trump. This FASCIST moron will shake it till it breaks (dies), but unfortunately he won't be charged with a crime.
That’s what keeps me up at night. I don’t know what the answer is and I worked I. Politics for so many years. It’s honestly fighting. My friends said “when you’re worried we all worry”. I’m always the one saying do t overthink think or. But this time I have no words
It’s hard to make this brief because the root of corrective action is simple but getting it done is both much slower & more complex than the extortionist type destruction the Musk Trump Vance coup leaders are accomplishing, because now they can: Demand for coup leaders & enabling SCOTUS judges to be removed, indicted, tried, convicted, & imprisoned for illegal & unconstitutional, treasonous actions has to come from Republican voters. MTV has all the advantages but follow through on their malignant & hairbrained ideas is having rapid, seriously negative impact on their voters. IMO, the best thing the rest of Americans can do is encourage them to share how bad these impacts are for them & their families & communities. I think that like the counter culture impact on sociopolitical consensus in late 60s/early 70s, positive - corrective change can be accellerated through music & NASCAR, but it has to originate from grass roots effort . Non-MAGA almost all have family & friends who they can & must share their stories with to help the duped magafolk break through the cognitive dissonance of how f’ckd up this is. Help them get real; released from the bovine fecal matter propaganda environment they’ve been conditioned by. They need help coming around to demanding their electeds work for them, not the $Billionaires, or they will be recalled out of office. <> Karen Tamerius’ group, Smart Politics has good, how-to templates for helping people effectively connect with & gradually persuade political opponents by changing the dynamic to motivated cooperative problem solving / personal & small group levels. George Lakoff & Gil Duran, with their group, Frame Lab have proven effective communication techniques. Those who understand what is going on and why need to break through our own conditioned avoidance to speak up for the common good. Democracy is all of us. Fascist Mafia State operators have invested many $Billions & 50+ years creating the conditions that enable MTV. It means what’s needed to no BS defend & sustain democracy needs to be accepted as a fact of life in complex, modern societies. People’s minds are easily colonized now by fascist techbro piwer. They showed all of us their faces at 47s inauguration. <> The ID of fascist mafia oligopoly is never going away. It requires sustained vigilence to marginalize it’s death cult mania Help everyone accept the changes required by boycotting the fascist mafia state oligopolists into oblivion. Prosecute & imprison everyone who has broken laws, like Musk & Trump.
Doesn’t he always do what he said? Trump will follow Putin’s playbook if not stopped.
Putin was the same way. 2004, due to rising oil prices, Russia was able to pay off its international loans. By 2007, Putin laid out his hostile policy shift in the Munich speech. Social media destabilization Cyber attacks on former iron curtain countries. Chechnya, Georgia, no response, set up Ukraine 2014 to present.
What swells the military ranks that make it possible? Destroy economic opportunity. Defund higher education. Use social media to indoctrinate the disaffected young men. Tell them Panama, Greenland, Canada are the root of their grievances.
Panama is probably first. Then Greenland. Then Canada. Then Mexico and Central America. Like Alexander Duggin’s Eurasia, Curtis Yarvin’s and Musk’s “North American Technocracy”.
These authoritarians follow a playbook that repeats itself through out history. In our time they have harnessed the internet and social media and AI ( preferred media consumption now) to super charge their efforts. They tell us what their plans are in advance. But we don’t take them seriously at first. And as they destroy everything that is decent. Hopefully Americans get this figured out before it’s too late. We probably only have 30-90 days left to resist. Plan on attending a protest as much as you can. Everyone can play a part. “Do not panic, Organize”.
Ted, I understand your distress but take a deep breath: do you really think he’s going to parachute into Panama now that CK (a Hong Kong company not a Chinese stooge) has sold out of its port contracts (which by the way had nothing to do with control of the canal itself). Do you think he’s going to order the First Marine Division to drive over the Windsor-Ontario Bridge and invade a NATO ally? Or invade Greenland? He’s doing enough damage to alliances and friendships as it is.
Agree. But contrary to all the woofing that “the Chinese are in control of the Panama Canal!!!”, the CK contract was for the container and general cargo terminals at the Pacific end, not for the Canal operation itself. It was blatant misinformation, which was swallowed by the media.
I read Malcolm Nance’s piece on it first thing this morning. As John says below it’s a tsunami! Elizabeth Warren called it a sandstorm during her recent Town Hall in Framingham, MA. I just caught up to the ActBlue mess as well. Congressman Jim McGovern said they will be meeting at a retreat later on this week. He mentioned a general strike. I sure hope they come up with some good ideas!
Right now I think it's mutters and groans. I suspect Trump's supporters think its some unusual negotiating tactic. I thought it was his usual crude, rude trolling, until I read that they had been talking seriously to high officials about borders and waterways.
Most Russians were surprised when Putin invaded Ukraine. They thought it was all talk and military exercises.
The turn around has been so quick it's not quite comprehensible.
Of course not!!! What kind of fools are you? The corner stone of NATO is mutual defense and it's clear Trump won't support Europe. If he gets his way he'll support Putin.
Europe needs to prepare like Hitler is on the move. No more dithering.
Sorry Raymond you are way behind... Europe's leaders know that Trump cannot be trusted In NATO or anywhere, but saying so publicly is counter-productive. The UK is once again part of Europe and a key player in the emerging European defense alliance.
Discussions are starting? Good grief, what more proof do you need. The U.S. cannot be trusted at all. We Canadians are dealing with what Europe and Britain will be dealing with soon enough. Forget any signed agreements or treaties, Trump runs roughshod over the rule of law with impunity and the people of the US are mired in hopelessness and impotence from those who oppose the maniac in the White House. Their only response is 'we didn't vote for him.' Pathetic.
Canadians have become hesitant to cross the border to visit family and friends and to shop. I live in a border state whose no. 1 trading partner is Canada. We get 95% of our heating oil from Canada and much of our electricity. If a 20-25% tariff goes into affect on just those two items, many Mainers will starve or freeze. But yet, they aren't ready to abandon their moronic and clueless leader.
Maine voters seem to value "independence" more than policy. All Collins needs to keep this reputation is a few meaningless "no" votes on confirmations or the like. They're cheap votes, since the Rs have the necessary 50 anyway.
It's name recognition only. The Dems vote against her, the Cons for her and the Independents lean slightly towards her. It's most name recognition. Maine has ranked choice voting so if a candidate gets less than 50% of the vote it goes to the 2nd choice of the voters. Susan got just over 50% of the vote in 2020. She lost to Sara Gideon who would have been a great candidate. I don't recall the 3rd place vote getter but they were a few thousand votes short of forcing RCV.
assuming that there are midterms, and that enough sensible people are allowed to vote, and that the votes are fairly counted. No such assumptions are bullet proof these days.
It’s been so inspiring to see Gore, Kerry, the Clintons, Obama, Biden, and Harris out barnstorming the country, leading the charge against this omnicidal lunacy. And Newsom throwing trans people under the bus as he fellates Charlie Kirk for 90 minutes on his new elect-me podcast. Carville saying stand down. Fetterman. It goes on and on.
Corporate Democrats are falling all over themselves to triangulate with fascism.
We have the budget "negotiations" coming up this week, with a deadline of Friday, March 14. (This is also the date of the next full moon, called the Worm Moon.) There seems to be widespread support on both sides of the aisle for full funding of Ukraine. Perhaps there will be a two week extension, comparable to people living paycheck to paycheck. This could go on for a while. People detest musk, who dropped out of Stanford after one week. It's only going to get worse for him. Here is part of what I wrote in my most recent email to Senators Durbin and Duckworth:
"There is absolutely no need for a cabinet level department called DOGE. The 17 Inspectors General fired by Donald Trump should be reinstated. Musk dropped out of Stanford University after one week. He is uneducated and has no understanding of our Constitution or the need for a strong federal government. The Inspectors General have the required education and professional experience required and have been successfully fulfilling their responsibilities for many years. "
I heard today that Howard Stern is asking people why they hate transgender people? What did they do to anyone to deserve this ridicule. A good friend of ours has a child that was raised as a girl but transitioned in her early 20's. He so-called Christian family has disowned her. My daughter and her have been friends since they were babies and have always kept in touch. They are a lovely person, who went through hell with her family. Fortunately, they have a loving partner and friends that support them.
My daughter dated a man who had just left the military after 4 years to transition. He was struggling mentally. I spent some time with him but my daughter and him lost touch with each other.
It is not easy for transgender people in America. And the fucking Trump and his hateful friends have made it so much worse.
Everyone in my family except my mother cut me out of their life. In addition to being lonely, it’s just hard to trust people. Seeing society writ large go completely feral like this has made it even harder. I feel like even people who are nominally supportive aren’t really willing to do anything uncomfortable lose anything by standing up for us.
I am so sorry to hear it. It's your family's loss for not being open but hurray for your mom.
I was shocked when my kid transitioned to female but internalised it, and despite the distance in mileage have remained close. 10 years later, she and her wife are the bright sparks in my life so patience and listening without talking has been its own reward.
Be careful to not see enemies in every corner. My daughter has a roommate in college who may be transitioning, but he/she refuses to speak to my daughter and hides in her/him hoodie. He/she's been rather hostile.
Trump has given the ok for an open season on trans folks. It’s wrong and disgusting to go after the most vulnerable and marginalized segment of our society who are just trying to live their lives like everyone else. Empathy has gone out the window. I often wonder how Trump would have treated Ivanka if she has transitioned in her teen years?
We really need the Democrats to stand up and help us organize. Can't they see that 2 years is too long. The people in power have already tried a forceful overthrow but it was unsuccessful because they didn't have a plan or organization.
I receive several emails a day from The Democrats since I donate monthly. This morning I learned the DNC as well as the DSCC and the DCCC have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop "his hostile takeover of the FEC." (Federal Election Commission)
Then, an earlier email today from Ken Martin stated that his vision was to "organize against Trump and his allies' harmful agenda, competing in every ZIP code, and building the long term party infrastructure we'll need ..."
Some are complaining the DNC is not doing enough. I disagree. Ken was elected on February 1. He has to build a new DNC from the ground up. You can go here to learn more:
Domestic appeasement can't avoid the possible ban of rivaling parties if Trump intends it to do. 1933 liberal and conservative parties tried this approach in Germany but lost.
Doug— I’m with you on this … I’ve railed about this in various stacks. I’ve written to members of Congress. Why aren’t you Senator X, Congressman/woman Z out there organizing and leading? Obamas, Clintons, Harris— get the #%£% out there and decry the horrors wrought by Trumphuk, Muskalini, the Heritage Horribles (Deplorables?), and the WMCNs!!! For the sake of our Democracy you have to get into this fully and use your leadership position to activate the demonstrations and protests — and BE THERE WITH US!!
BTW I am flying up on my own retired guy nickel from Charleston to DC to attend the March 14 March / Demonstration / Protest. Y’all come and make some good trouble!
So, I’ve been saying. I never trusted the entire lot of them in the day. They made their money and had their power trip. That was their goal all along. Now we can fend for ourselves.
Pity all the dizzy Dems did not persuade Biden to stick to him to his only one term instead of shouting at him from a distance like poisoned dwarf bitter Pelosi ( a great politician except for that). They all saw Trump coming and effectively did nothing. Why? I also remember Obama asking the banks in and in effect asking them 'What can l do for you lads?'. (A disaster He was no FDR! when the banks were on the floor crawling) Dumb Dem. or all part of the same cabal?
Until people hit the streets en masse, nothing will happen. Even that won't be enough. Egregious daily violations of the Constitution; Trump and Musk unchecked; mayhem not stability; allies attacked; historic shift in US foreign policy; Democrats MIA ... So much irreparable damage has been done. As a Canadian I see no cause for optimism. The betrayal has been shocking. And no, we don't take any solace in the fact that most of you didn't vote for Trump. He is now your face to the world.
It doesn’t help to demonize those Americans who didn’t vote for this fascist coup. Unfortunately, other than participating in street protests or attending congressional town halls, which I did this weekend, we don’t have any individual power to stop this madness. I’m just praying I don’t lose my retirement savings as Trump’s economic policies trigger a global recession. And, yes, I apologize to Canada, Mexico, Panama, Greenland, Ukraine, Palestine, and a growing list of countries. Every day we wait for the next outrage.
It doesn't help to demonize anyone except for Trump/Musk/Vance and the cowardly Republicans in Congress and the administration.
The election was 4 months ago, get over it people. The people need to sue the Trump administration for EVERY single EO they release whether their lawsuit has merit or not.
Bondi cannot begin to defend all of these things with the incompetent and short-staff she has.
We need to continue emailing our Congress critters and Senators every day. If they are too chicken to hold a town hall then call their offices or email them.
Be careful: Trump and his MAGA cult actually WANT a confrontation in the streets. MLK’s heroism and wisdom was to march but stay peaceful despite the police dogs and batons. You will play into their hands if you act on your rage.
Thanks Paul for all your notes, interviews and information. Too bad I can't use substack app as my iphone doesn't allow most recent operating system--another example of how capitalists suck up our cash. Please keep it up, I was a faithful reader of your NYT columns and was shocked and saddened when you left.
By the way you might want to cast a critical eye on the Economist, which blames Biden and Trudeau for inflation in their respective countries while inflation was worldwide and the US and Canada got through pretty well by supporting businesses and individuals during the pandemic.
The Economist is a joke and has been for a long time. They are shills of the oligarchy.
I removed them a couple of years ago from my news feed along with many of the other oligarchy owned publications like The NY Times, WAPO, LA Times, Time magazine and others.
I don't recall Krugman mentioning the Economist in any of his columns ever.
It’s been longer than a couple of years for The Economist. Back in the 2000s they ran an “analysis” of the collapse of the timber industry in the US Pacific Northwest and used a community 5 miles from my hometown to “explain” what happened. They blamed the Spotted Owl political issue. No mention of the actual economics like antiquated sawmill equipment, advances in engineered lumber that made Southern pine a competitive and less costly substitute for Doug fir, or higher labor costs. At that point it was clear The Economist is just another political rag.
I hate the ugly, soil destroying clear cuts that blight where I live. BUT, we need to do some serious logging and should have been logging for the last 5 years.
Climate change is killing the doug fir trees and now I live in a tinderbox where half the trees are standing dead.
I read an article in a local paper with an emotional cry against cutting green trees. Give me a break! By the time the tree is dead it isn't worth anything. Who is going to go out and process dead trees for free!! I'm doing it on my own property, but it's backbreaking work and I'm only looking at 100 acres. There are over 500,000 acres of dying forests. Our fire hazard is blinking red.
Now I have to worry that during this summer there won't be enough firefighters. They've shut down the usual fuel reduction programs. Those are mostly around the wildland/residential interfaces.
Interesting Lee. I meant that I finally ended my subscriptions to The NY Times and WAPO a couple of years ago, but I never have been a reader of The Economist. I prefer to follow Paul Krugman, Catherine Rampell and I really liked John Kenneth Galbreath when he was alive.
Gary, I respectfully disagree about The Economist. I’ve been a subscriber for 40 years. I liken it to a trusted film critic: usually insightful but be aware of the biases. Janet Maslin for example hated Clint Eastwood - go figure, Unforgiven? TE is anything but a shill for the oligarchs, and unlike WaPo it endorsed Biden (or rather, it dis-endorsed Trump as a threat).
I like the Economist. It's important to hear a wide variety of views. Their coverage of MAGA has been excellent. They have podcasts with are in-depth and excellent.
I'm leery of publications that don't have any conservative viewpoints. Sorry folks, the left can get way out there in the weeds too.
Well, how many times can I say this. There is a pattern here that is blindingly obvious.
Now a scientist (you don't need a lab coat to be a scientist, it's a way of thinking about things, it's a methodology for separating fact from fiction, and uncovering new truths) would look at this pattern and try to develop a model that explains and connects all the parts.
Think of the heliocentric model of the Solar System. A correct model becomes obvious when after adopting it, everything clicks into place.
So, what model is suggested by all these chaotic and sinister moves?
I'll use the all caps convention for screaming.
TRUMP INTENDS TO SEIZE POWER AND REMAIN IN OFFICE AFTER HIS TERM ENDS. HE WANTS TO OVERTHROW THE REPUBLIC.
Take two facts and see how they fit in the model.
1. Trump-Musk are working at warp speed to hollow out the government, place THEIR people in charge, and destroy all programs that make people independent.
2. Trump is ignoring public opinion. A President can make policy mistakes that promote a backlash, but a law-abiding President would quickly change course, especially if he wants to get re-elected.
Now, there are ways to safeguard our democracy, but the first step must be to recognize the danger and take it seriously.
3. Trump is betraying and hurting all its democratic allies in the world actively and allying with fascist Russia openly.
He is weakening democratic Ukraine in any way possible, so that his new ally Russia can win and Ukraine has to surrender. And Trump can boast that he alone made "peace".
Yes, all true. But not relevant to the model. What i am talking about is a purely domestic matter. It's important to not get distracted by extraneous matters that have no connection to the model. It's like saying, yes the sun is at the center, but what about the Hubble recession constant?
I disagree on this point: It is relevant and interconnected. But I know that most US citizens don't know much about the world and couldn't care less. They don't realize that their own private lives are interdependent on more than "gas and egg" prices, namely on the security order in the entire world. And this is influencing domestic affairs.
Why is it so consoling to read your trenchant analysis of these horrendous depredations first thing every morning? I guess because it proves that the whole world has not yet gone mad: there is at least one intelligent person out there perceiving and conveying the truth. Please keep it up, for all our sakes!
Many of the substack contributors are our news source. Heather Cox Richardson has over 2.2 million subscribers, The Contrarian signed up over 250,000 subscribers within a week of Rubin and Eisen leaving the WAPO. There are many other fantastic contributors here.
And then there's YouTube with it's many contributors as well.
The networks are almost all oligarchy owned as are X, Facebook and others.
In more direct language, Trump and his minions are blaming the Jews for any problems Trump policies have created. This process has quite a history. I just finished reading the Canterbury Tales, from 1400 England. One of them, which nowadays is sometimes omitted from the collection, is a fable about Jews killing a Christian boy. And Chaucer was a financial functionary of the government of the day.
Funny how you can simultaneously blame the Jews, support neo-Nazis as "undoubtably good people" and support the most extreme and delusional tendencies in Israeli politics. Well, scratch a tyrant, find a schizophrenic, I guess.
“support the most extreme and delusional tendencies in Israeli politics”
That’s because the apocalyptic evangelical “Christians” can’t wait for Israel to
fail so Jesus returns and smites everyone who ever disagreed with or ignored them. For them the sooner Israel alienates the world the faster this happens. In their minds we’ll finally all be jealous of them, which is what they really want regardless of how many people get hurt in the process. Jewish people are just a tool to get what they really want, which is the envy of all the people they think done them wrong.
Yes Lee, but note that Bibi happily accepts the support of US evangelicals in his cynical policies. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” until of course, he isn’t.
Interesting. As I get older, the more I learn about the number of times scapegoats come into play for overzealous, insecure leaders; more often than not Jews. (And here we go again) I like the Canterbury Tales, looks like I’m going to have to hunt that one down to read it too. Thx.
It's no surprise. Herr Trump aspires to be the next Führer. You can't do that without demonizing "the Jews". That of course includes Marjorie Taylor Greene's "Jewish space lasers".
Seems like a good time to quote I.F. Stone: All governments lie, but disaster lies in wait for the people whose officials smoke the same hashish they give out.
Excellent and timely analysis, as usual, by Paul Krugman. I would love to know, though, how the author feels, or better, what his instinct tells him, whether the protests are strong and fast enough. For we know how fascist act - and please keep in mind that we are dealing with text-book example of fascist strategies at early stages - for every protest there is another violent and crazy move that attacks the core of democracy and the rule of law.
I guess you are right, Still, it was be nice to see him directly answer early questions/comments. And also I for one don't feel that even he is raising the alarm strongly enough, but then I could be wrong.
We need to blanket our Senators and Representatives with calls and contact form emails. You can check out Hopium Chronicles by Simon Rosenberg here on Substack. We've been doing this since about January 24-25. The protests are going to get dangerous. Some of them already have resulted in violent responses, like the Tesla protest in Manhattan this past weekend. The NYPD were beating protesters and dragging them off for arrest.
Mike Johnson always has that smirk on his face. I can't wait until he's demoted to the minority. Him tanking that immigration bill because Daddy Trump told him to was despicable. Oh and a government shutdown! That'll be fun.
Trump's little Johnson accomplished virtually nothing from 2023-2024. They were shamed into helping Iraq and finally passing a delayed budget. And then the press had the gall to praise him for these actions.
Hello from an Italian. Open a history book, look at the rise of Mussolini and you will see the similarities with Trump, similarities that the world has been warning you about for months. Then you will see what is about to happen to you and how to defend yourself.
And save idiotic statements that the area between Canada and Mexico is exceptional so it cannot happen: it has already happened.
At least Mussolini made the economy work better for awhile. A lot of authoritarians take over in bad economic times and make improvements at least for awhile. Putin, Orban both stepped in when things were bad economically and the government was failing.
Trump took over a good economy that had recovered from the pandemic and is trashing it.
Mussolini imposed autarchy: produce everything at home, sending all imports to hell with duties and threats. The economy went so badly that he sent soldiers to "break the backs of the Greeks" with cardboard shoes.
For a decade now the Republicans, Russia, and right wing political parties across the world have been using exactly the same talking points (which appear to have been written 35 years ago). They aren’t even trying to appear to write their own talking points. It’s reminiscent of grading term papers where everyone has selected the same paper from the fraternity bank of old term papers.
I love that meme. And it is so fitting when it comes to the corporate media still berating the Democrats for losing the election and for not having one united voice. Fuck that shit and concentrate on exposing the oligarchs for the greedy incompetent bastards they are.
I read Project 2025. Nothing they have done isn't in there. CA and Newsom were ready for this and are litigating it as much as they can. Newsom said they prepared for months for Trump becoming President.
"I love that meme. And it is so fitting when it comes to the corporate media still berating the Democrats for losing the election and for not having one united voice."
Words cannot express how exhausted I am by this.
"Why won't Democrats do something!" our compatriots shriek. No demands for the party that has the full power to subpoena Musk, investigate DOGE, impeach Trump, and remove him from office. Just not worth talking about their failures, I suppose.
And honestly it's not just the corporate media, it's most liberals on social media too. We have been trained to turn all our criticism on ourselves or our allies and consider the opposition's actions to be written in stone and unworthy of protest. (Not many protests on campuses this spring, I guess Gaza is doing okay? Oh, no, things are worse than ever and our government isn't even trying to improve them? Oh well.)
Normies notice the vibe, guys. Have some #@$! pride. Democrats are doing a lot of different things, which means there is probably one or more out there doing what you like. Maybe pay attention to them and highlight what they're doing instead of whining about Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer like it's going to help literally anything ever.
Thanks to Professor Krugman for this timely message.
Professor Krugman mentions the American business oligarchs who might be beginning to have doubts about Donald and Elon. My question is, what took them so long?
Actually, I was surprised during the recent political campaign at the number of "business leaders" and "captains of industry" who claim to believe that Donald has lots of "business smarts" and would be good for the economy. I know that there are many low information voters who think that Donald was a great businessman because they saw him on The Apprentice. But should not the CEOs of major banks and corporations know better?
Have they just found out that Donald and Elon don't know what they are doing? In the case of Donald, he has been on the national stage for over ten years. That is plenty of time to get to know him and to find out that in The Apprentice, he was not actually running a real business.
That shows us that our "business leaders" are not that smart either. There are many people who think that if someone has lots of money and acts nutty, then he/she must be a genius.
MAGA Mike claims to be very religious. It is always odd to see and hear very religious people breaking one of the ten commandments -- specifically the admonition against bearing false witness. Does anyone believe anything he says?
Greed took them so long Aubrey. Trump promised to extend the tax cuts and to lower the corporate tax rate. All of the money he is trying to save by firing Federal employees is to not increase the deficit. The same with the tariffs. He thinks he can raise enough from tariffs to bamboozle the CBO into recognizing the value of the tariffs. Trump is just a useful idiot to the oligarchs and he will be until he becomes a liability to them.
Fortunately, Canada is already fighting back by pulling all American made alcohol off of their shelves in many provinces. BC has gone even further by only pulling those products that are made in red states. So Jack Daniels is out and west coast wines are in.
You might like to read an article by Steven Rattner in the NYT of March 3. He reports that even in private, many business "leaders" support Donald's economic ideas.
I bet a lot of business leaders support Trump's ideas of less taxation on the wealthy, deregulation and ease of paying for access, minor corruption that benefits them but not so significant that it wreaks everything.
Right now, it's like the early days of 2008, you can almost hear the brakes slamming and everything skidding to a halt.
A friend of mine who was considering moving lost a chunk of her retirement portfolio and has decided to hunker down.
CONFIDENCE is a key to financial systems, not CHAOS.
I live in the UK and tomorrow we are going to a car dealer with a view to trade in our quite new Tesla for another EV so we no longer have to be associated with that despicable man or give him any more money than we have to.
We share your pain and thank you for joining are crusade against fascism. If we could only rip his Nazi arm off and shove it up his ass it would be a good start.
I hadn’t quite thought of that 😀
Please accept my compliments. Both the UK and Canada have demonstrated adult behavior in the face of rantings from our pair of demented toddlers.
And, BTW, please get the UK back into the EU. Europe needs united commercial and military strength. America is no longer to be relied upon. In fact, America might be the enemy. Get with it! Someone has to stand up for Democracy!
We’d love to be back in the EU - didn’t vote to leave. We miss the freedom of movement and think many didn’t understand what they were giving up. Then of course there was the Russian interference in the election.
No reason why Canada couldn’t join the EU if the people decided that was in their best interest. After all, the UK kept the pound so Canada could keep the Canadian dollar. And unlike the US, Canada is on the Metric system so no change there needed.
It’s fascinating how similar our dilemmas have become. Many Americans also “didn’t understand what they were giving up.” And Russians also interfered in our election.
We Americans thank you!
I dumped mine at the beginning of the year. I will never ever buy anything from anyone supporting this insanity!
Boycott! Don't give a cent of your money to supporters of Trump if at all possible. Do your research. See latinofreeze.com. Shop local. Save as much as you can.
Demand a restoration of democracy.
Aren't TJ Maxx and Home Goods under the same umbrella? (TJ Maxx is on the good side, Home Goods isn't.)
Confusing, but they apparently are supportive of DEI.
Money is power...therefore, no money, no power. TSLA is dropping like a ball of lead, as is Elno's net worth. Can't keep borrowing on a sinking asset, and reckoning is just round the corner. "Market forces" and all that.
Then he will truly rely on DoD contracts. If he had been so concerned about his non DoD wealth, he wouldn't have driven Twitter and Tesla into the ground.
Yeah, I don't think he needs customers when he can just suck $ out of the federal gov't....
Anyone who can afford to do so, should give their TESLA to the poorer folks who have to commute to work and need to save on gas, this is especially true in places like CA.
I have a neighbors who have had these cars for many years, and they almost never drive because they either work from home or are retired. It would do a lot of good regarding climate change if those who needed to drive longer distances but who can't afford an EV, were given them for free.
Then some good could come out of this.
Someone needs to organize a giveaway and have people who desperately need these cars apply.
If they do donate the Tesla, they should stick "Support Ukraine" stickers all over the car so they don't get vandalized!
The giveaway program should also have a special sticker to show the person did not go out and purchase the car.
And just how do you go about "choosing" a poor person to give it to? If you've got enough money to give away a Tesla, donate the money to a good cause.
Start an organization to give the away, for one.
It does not have to be super formal, someone simply needs to show they commute and have a "clunker gas guzzler" they need to get rid of.
I do think it is a good cause to help someone conserve who can get more use out of it and in this way save more on emissions.
Not to mention if they are poor, they probably live in an apartment building where there is no charger port nearby.
I bet you are tired of people overtaking you and giving you the finger. (If people in UK are actually that rude! ) Anyway, thank you!
No they’re not. They don’t need to - we know not to support people like Mr Musk now. We haven’t bought anything from Amazon for years for - any business owner who becomes a billionaire is not paying his workers enough. No one achieves alone. However they don’t all become as toxic as Musk. Unfortunately we can’t afford to give our car away though we can afford to lose a little on the sale. If I were to donate it I would choose someone who publicly recanted on having voted for Brexit.
Here in the US, we've seen quite a few Teslas with bumper stickers that say something along the lines of, "Bought this before we knew he was a fascist, sorry."
Good on you
I appreciate your effort but you know with the tariffs from Trump all car prices are going to go up except for Tesla if you can afford to protest bless you if you can't take the hit at least leave a sign on the dash that says I'm having trouble selling this car I don't support the fascist Elon Musk
unfortunately I figure your train allowance will have gone down. I hope it's not too bad.
Good on you! I wish some of our villagers would do likewise.
« I only hope that enough people get scared and angry enough, soon enough, to save America as we knew it. »
This is what the whole world is hoping and waiting for.
Stand up America!
We overthrew an abusive king 250 years ago and we can do it again! We know the drill, it's in our blood.
Except some 74 million of us had the opportunity to assess t-Rump’s act 1
yet still voted for act 2. Did they really expect
a kinder gentler crime boss ?
Ve are innocent! Ve expected ze Fuhrer to vin ze War but his Generals vere no good and zey haf lied to us!!
Change "Fuhrer" to "Kaiser" for better accuracy.
After WWI, the propagandists insisted Germany had been stabbed in the back by - you know, those people....
After WWII, you couldn't find a civilian German who had supported the Nazis.
They like what they got even better than they expected. The felon is still riding a 51% approval rating. Stories about buyer’s remorse are anecdotal at best. The price of eggs was just an excuse.
Rex, yes (unfortunately). And we would do well to remember that the wealthy still have their tax breaks; dividends; trusts; and secure jobs - they LIKE this! The true MAGA zealots are gloating (and “ can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs”). And the working class who have already lost their jobs (& the many more who are about to) will cling to their vote choice until they are confronted with their reality, BUT they won’t be happy and they won’t reject him willingly. That’s how he’s still got 51pc support.
I don't think he has 51% approval... https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2025/03/10/what-is-trumps-approval-rating-most-recent-scores-in-nc-u-s/82234297007/
Our house it’s much much lower.
I read he was at 49%.
They believed that he would make the economy better, create world peace by the force of his personality and own the libs.
If they believed that, they were idiots.
If they voted for him, they're idiots.
Well, they didn't know or care about the first two (economy or world peace), but they were definitely all in on "owning the libs." It's what they live for, even if their sucky lives continue to stay sucky
Just for the record, Macron has posted a slightly used guillotine for sale. Worked for King Louis XVI ...
👆❤️
In the blood of some of us. See History, U.S.
Frankly should have stayed put: Charles is an awful lot better.
And then we'd have Harry instead of Don, Jr.!
Let’s see how the vets that voted for T-Rump
act 2 feel as he sheds 80,000 VA jobs .
What part of “ losers and suckers “ did they miss in act 1 ?
I’ll bet they were grief stricken their fearless
leader didn’t serve due to “ bone spurs “
Un huh
General strike:
https://generalstrikeus.com/strikecard
March 3rd? DC Mall.
You meant March 30?
03.14.2025
CLAIM YOUR POWER. STOP THE COUP!
National Mall March
NOWMARCH.ORG
I’m looking for that link for it. We all need to share it. Get millions there.
His declaration of war on Canada, Greenland and Panama rarely gets mentioned. Trump and gang are fracturing international law and hardly a whisper.
In fairness, Elizabeth, it’s really hard to keep up with the tsunami of shit coming out of this joke of an administration. One minute it’s collaboration with Putin, the next it’s pulling $400 million from a major university and right after that it’s that frog running HHS taking selfies hiking somewhere while people are dying of measles. It’s just one goddamned thing after another, and it never stops.
I fear it is going to take some Luigi moments to bring the madness down. I could see tRump leaning into the tRumpcession and a few Oligarchs who get hurt particularly badly arranging for him and Melon to have little 'accidents.
Do you think the oligarchs are shorting the U.S. economy in anticipation of the Trump Effect?
In order to short something, there has to be something left to win. Chaos only works in the favor of those who want to destroy in order to establish something else. That's what the 2025 movement is all about. They came to the conclusion that they'd never have the votes to establish the world they want to see because "the people" don't know what's good for them.
Look at abortion. Roe VS Wade was struck down and women still have fairly good access to abortion. They don't have the votes, and will never have the votes, to enact the sort of legislation that would make the draconian changes they want to see. That means democracy needs to go.
Well, a lot of women -those in blue states, and those in red states who can travel - still have fairly easy access to abortion. But a lot of women, those in most red states, don't. And even for those women who can afford to travel - sometimes pregnancy complications can trap them in a "no abortion while there's a heartbeat" nightmare as they bleed away, or develop sepsis, where travel isn't possible.
They know no end to their greed, so I think that is very likely.
Government by extortion is the only way Trump knows. He is after all an extortionist. And Trump's approach to economics, well it more resembles SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME. Like a child the economy is quite fragile at this time, thanks to FASCIST Trump. This FASCIST moron will shake it till it breaks (dies), but unfortunately he won't be charged with a crime.
I feel like it’s going to be up to the citizens to drag there asses out.
I pray it doesn't come to that. The problem with violent revolutions is they have a hard time stopping the violence.
That’s what keeps me up at night. I don’t know what the answer is and I worked I. Politics for so many years. It’s honestly fighting. My friends said “when you’re worried we all worry”. I’m always the one saying do t overthink think or. But this time I have no words
It does feel more like we're living through the run up to the French Revolution rather than the rise of the Third Reich.
This usually the case with demented demagogues.
It’s hard to make this brief because the root of corrective action is simple but getting it done is both much slower & more complex than the extortionist type destruction the Musk Trump Vance coup leaders are accomplishing, because now they can: Demand for coup leaders & enabling SCOTUS judges to be removed, indicted, tried, convicted, & imprisoned for illegal & unconstitutional, treasonous actions has to come from Republican voters. MTV has all the advantages but follow through on their malignant & hairbrained ideas is having rapid, seriously negative impact on their voters. IMO, the best thing the rest of Americans can do is encourage them to share how bad these impacts are for them & their families & communities. I think that like the counter culture impact on sociopolitical consensus in late 60s/early 70s, positive - corrective change can be accellerated through music & NASCAR, but it has to originate from grass roots effort . Non-MAGA almost all have family & friends who they can & must share their stories with to help the duped magafolk break through the cognitive dissonance of how f’ckd up this is. Help them get real; released from the bovine fecal matter propaganda environment they’ve been conditioned by. They need help coming around to demanding their electeds work for them, not the $Billionaires, or they will be recalled out of office. <> Karen Tamerius’ group, Smart Politics has good, how-to templates for helping people effectively connect with & gradually persuade political opponents by changing the dynamic to motivated cooperative problem solving / personal & small group levels. George Lakoff & Gil Duran, with their group, Frame Lab have proven effective communication techniques. Those who understand what is going on and why need to break through our own conditioned avoidance to speak up for the common good. Democracy is all of us. Fascist Mafia State operators have invested many $Billions & 50+ years creating the conditions that enable MTV. It means what’s needed to no BS defend & sustain democracy needs to be accepted as a fact of life in complex, modern societies. People’s minds are easily colonized now by fascist techbro piwer. They showed all of us their faces at 47s inauguration. <> The ID of fascist mafia oligopoly is never going away. It requires sustained vigilence to marginalize it’s death cult mania Help everyone accept the changes required by boycotting the fascist mafia state oligopolists into oblivion. Prosecute & imprison everyone who has broken laws, like Musk & Trump.
Republicans are hanging together, because if not, they shall all surely...
Yes the Shit-sunzami! Shitting all over American values. Little shits, JD, and big shits, Donny John, and then there’s the worst, Musky shitting!
Really sad we are putting up with this….
Doesn’t he always do what he said? Trump will follow Putin’s playbook if not stopped.
Putin was the same way. 2004, due to rising oil prices, Russia was able to pay off its international loans. By 2007, Putin laid out his hostile policy shift in the Munich speech. Social media destabilization Cyber attacks on former iron curtain countries. Chechnya, Georgia, no response, set up Ukraine 2014 to present.
What swells the military ranks that make it possible? Destroy economic opportunity. Defund higher education. Use social media to indoctrinate the disaffected young men. Tell them Panama, Greenland, Canada are the root of their grievances.
Panama is probably first. Then Greenland. Then Canada. Then Mexico and Central America. Like Alexander Duggin’s Eurasia, Curtis Yarvin’s and Musk’s “North American Technocracy”.
Absolutely.
Yarvin, Thiel, and the rest of the neo-reactionaries have a lot to answer for.
Is there a gofundme in crypto for retribution? Asking for a friend.
Using crypto just funds the technocracy and they can trace it just like the Silk Road was traced.
These authoritarians follow a playbook that repeats itself through out history. In our time they have harnessed the internet and social media and AI ( preferred media consumption now) to super charge their efforts. They tell us what their plans are in advance. But we don’t take them seriously at first. And as they destroy everything that is decent. Hopefully Americans get this figured out before it’s too late. We probably only have 30-90 days left to resist. Plan on attending a protest as much as you can. Everyone can play a part. “Do not panic, Organize”.
CLAIM YOUR POWER! Stop the coup!
03.14.2025 NATIONAL MALL, DC
You mean federal workers should go on strike since most are likely to be fired anyway.
Ted, I understand your distress but take a deep breath: do you really think he’s going to parachute into Panama now that CK (a Hong Kong company not a Chinese stooge) has sold out of its port contracts (which by the way had nothing to do with control of the canal itself). Do you think he’s going to order the First Marine Division to drive over the Windsor-Ontario Bridge and invade a NATO ally? Or invade Greenland? He’s doing enough damage to alliances and friendships as it is.
Some Canadians think he might. He has talked about revisiting the boundary position. I’m not one of them. Still I’m a bit worried.
I kind of wonder if THAT was not what the threat was about all along.
Threaten Panama so that HK Co sells out to Blackrock (huge Republican donor).
One of the reasons we gave back the canal ( and invaded Grenada) is if one controls the Caribbean, one controls traffic through the canal.
Agree. But contrary to all the woofing that “the Chinese are in control of the Panama Canal!!!”, the CK contract was for the container and general cargo terminals at the Pacific end, not for the Canal operation itself. It was blatant misinformation, which was swallowed by the media.
Trump's diplomacy may lead to an Entente against him by the Americas from Canada to Chile that mirrors Germany's situation before WW1
Not to mention another civil war. It could happen any moment.
I read Malcolm Nance’s piece on it first thing this morning. As John says below it’s a tsunami! Elizabeth Warren called it a sandstorm during her recent Town Hall in Framingham, MA. I just caught up to the ActBlue mess as well. Congressman Jim McGovern said they will be meeting at a retreat later on this week. He mentioned a general strike. I sure hope they come up with some good ideas!
Right now I think it's mutters and groans. I suspect Trump's supporters think its some unusual negotiating tactic. I thought it was his usual crude, rude trolling, until I read that they had been talking seriously to high officials about borders and waterways.
Most Russians were surprised when Putin invaded Ukraine. They thought it was all talk and military exercises.
The turn around has been so quick it's not quite comprehensible.
Even hinting against annexation is against the Geneva Convention…
We in Europe are paying attention. Discussions are starting about should the US still be trusted in NATO.
Of course not!!! What kind of fools are you? The corner stone of NATO is mutual defense and it's clear Trump won't support Europe. If he gets his way he'll support Putin.
Europe needs to prepare like Hitler is on the move. No more dithering.
Sorry Raymond you are way behind... Europe's leaders know that Trump cannot be trusted In NATO or anywhere, but saying so publicly is counter-productive. The UK is once again part of Europe and a key player in the emerging European defense alliance.
Discussions are starting? Good grief, what more proof do you need. The U.S. cannot be trusted at all. We Canadians are dealing with what Europe and Britain will be dealing with soon enough. Forget any signed agreements or treaties, Trump runs roughshod over the rule of law with impunity and the people of the US are mired in hopelessness and impotence from those who oppose the maniac in the White House. Their only response is 'we didn't vote for him.' Pathetic.
True, but it might just be a diversion. But what is a diversion of what, I don't know!
The governments of at least Canada and Greenland don't see it as a diversion. They see it officially as an existential threat.
Canadians have become hesitant to cross the border to visit family and friends and to shop. I live in a border state whose no. 1 trading partner is Canada. We get 95% of our heating oil from Canada and much of our electricity. If a 20-25% tariff goes into affect on just those two items, many Mainers will starve or freeze. But yet, they aren't ready to abandon their moronic and clueless leader.
And they keep electing Susan Collins. Let them freeze.
Right? What's the deal with that?
Maine voters seem to value "independence" more than policy. All Collins needs to keep this reputation is a few meaningless "no" votes on confirmations or the like. They're cheap votes, since the Rs have the necessary 50 anyway.
It's name recognition only. The Dems vote against her, the Cons for her and the Independents lean slightly towards her. It's most name recognition. Maine has ranked choice voting so if a candidate gets less than 50% of the vote it goes to the 2nd choice of the voters. Susan got just over 50% of the vote in 2020. She lost to Sara Gideon who would have been a great candidate. I don't recall the 3rd place vote getter but they were a few thousand votes short of forcing RCV.
Dominique, No diversion. He wants their minerals. He wants to expand the USA. He wants domination.
He won't get it. He will get impeached again when we sweep the midterms - and this time removed - and a whole lot more that he wasn't counting on.
assuming that there are midterms, and that enough sensible people are allowed to vote, and that the votes are fairly counted. No such assumptions are bullet proof these days.
There will either be midterms or there will be civil war.
Yes. Prof. Krugman’s post didn’t get into the possibility that **external** scapegoats will be found and the war that would follow.
It’s been so inspiring to see Gore, Kerry, the Clintons, Obama, Biden, and Harris out barnstorming the country, leading the charge against this omnicidal lunacy. And Newsom throwing trans people under the bus as he fellates Charlie Kirk for 90 minutes on his new elect-me podcast. Carville saying stand down. Fetterman. It goes on and on.
Corporate Democrats are falling all over themselves to triangulate with fascism.
Bernie is out there fighting for you.
You can donate for Bernie's travels on his Act Blue account. I have this set up on recurring/monthly.
And Senator Chris Murphy is great. He has a free Substack. https://www.chrismurphyct.com/p/trumps-biggest-corruption-is-flying
We have the budget "negotiations" coming up this week, with a deadline of Friday, March 14. (This is also the date of the next full moon, called the Worm Moon.) There seems to be widespread support on both sides of the aisle for full funding of Ukraine. Perhaps there will be a two week extension, comparable to people living paycheck to paycheck. This could go on for a while. People detest musk, who dropped out of Stanford after one week. It's only going to get worse for him. Here is part of what I wrote in my most recent email to Senators Durbin and Duckworth:
"There is absolutely no need for a cabinet level department called DOGE. The 17 Inspectors General fired by Donald Trump should be reinstated. Musk dropped out of Stanford University after one week. He is uneducated and has no understanding of our Constitution or the need for a strong federal government. The Inspectors General have the required education and professional experience required and have been successfully fulfilling their responsibilities for many years. "
Bernie has never stopped fighting. He gave his life for this country.
MuskRat isn't even American.
He’s not South African? What is he?
He was weened on Apartheid, but today he's an overpowered plutocratic, kleptocratic oligarch.
I heard today that Howard Stern is asking people why they hate transgender people? What did they do to anyone to deserve this ridicule. A good friend of ours has a child that was raised as a girl but transitioned in her early 20's. He so-called Christian family has disowned her. My daughter and her have been friends since they were babies and have always kept in touch. They are a lovely person, who went through hell with her family. Fortunately, they have a loving partner and friends that support them.
My daughter dated a man who had just left the military after 4 years to transition. He was struggling mentally. I spent some time with him but my daughter and him lost touch with each other.
It is not easy for transgender people in America. And the fucking Trump and his hateful friends have made it so much worse.
Thanks Howard! Keep it up.
Everyone in my family except my mother cut me out of their life. In addition to being lonely, it’s just hard to trust people. Seeing society writ large go completely feral like this has made it even harder. I feel like even people who are nominally supportive aren’t really willing to do anything uncomfortable lose anything by standing up for us.
You be you.
Some of us will support you no matter what others say or do.
I am so sorry to hear it. It's your family's loss for not being open but hurray for your mom.
I was shocked when my kid transitioned to female but internalised it, and despite the distance in mileage have remained close. 10 years later, she and her wife are the bright sparks in my life so patience and listening without talking has been its own reward.
May you survive and thrive.
Be careful to not see enemies in every corner. My daughter has a roommate in college who may be transitioning, but he/she refuses to speak to my daughter and hides in her/him hoodie. He/she's been rather hostile.
Trump has given the ok for an open season on trans folks. It’s wrong and disgusting to go after the most vulnerable and marginalized segment of our society who are just trying to live their lives like everyone else. Empathy has gone out the window. I often wonder how Trump would have treated Ivanka if she has transitioned in her teen years?
Doug, Elizabeth Warren is as well.
Jamie Raskin, Chris Murphy, Brian Schatz, Ron Wyden, Jasmine Crockett, AOC, Maxwell Frost. Grateful
We really need the Democrats to stand up and help us organize. Can't they see that 2 years is too long. The people in power have already tried a forceful overthrow but it was unsuccessful because they didn't have a plan or organization.
I receive several emails a day from The Democrats since I donate monthly. This morning I learned the DNC as well as the DSCC and the DCCC have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop "his hostile takeover of the FEC." (Federal Election Commission)
Then, an earlier email today from Ken Martin stated that his vision was to "organize against Trump and his allies' harmful agenda, competing in every ZIP code, and building the long term party infrastructure we'll need ..."
Some are complaining the DNC is not doing enough. I disagree. Ken was elected on February 1. He has to build a new DNC from the ground up. You can go here to learn more:
https://democrats.org
Domestic appeasement can't avoid the possible ban of rivaling parties if Trump intends it to do. 1933 liberal and conservative parties tried this approach in Germany but lost.
Doug— I’m with you on this … I’ve railed about this in various stacks. I’ve written to members of Congress. Why aren’t you Senator X, Congressman/woman Z out there organizing and leading? Obamas, Clintons, Harris— get the #%£% out there and decry the horrors wrought by Trumphuk, Muskalini, the Heritage Horribles (Deplorables?), and the WMCNs!!! For the sake of our Democracy you have to get into this fully and use your leadership position to activate the demonstrations and protests — and BE THERE WITH US!!
BTW I am flying up on my own retired guy nickel from Charleston to DC to attend the March 14 March / Demonstration / Protest. Y’all come and make some good trouble!
I may go to that—non serious but annoying/limiting health issue flare-up. But def the next one!
So, I’ve been saying. I never trusted the entire lot of them in the day. They made their money and had their power trip. That was their goal all along. Now we can fend for ourselves.
No kidding. Where are those GD cowards?
Pity all the dizzy Dems did not persuade Biden to stick to him to his only one term instead of shouting at him from a distance like poisoned dwarf bitter Pelosi ( a great politician except for that). They all saw Trump coming and effectively did nothing. Why? I also remember Obama asking the banks in and in effect asking them 'What can l do for you lads?'. (A disaster He was no FDR! when the banks were on the floor crawling) Dumb Dem. or all part of the same cabal?
Wouldn't it be great if Bernie became president?
Moron.
Until people hit the streets en masse, nothing will happen. Even that won't be enough. Egregious daily violations of the Constitution; Trump and Musk unchecked; mayhem not stability; allies attacked; historic shift in US foreign policy; Democrats MIA ... So much irreparable damage has been done. As a Canadian I see no cause for optimism. The betrayal has been shocking. And no, we don't take any solace in the fact that most of you didn't vote for Trump. He is now your face to the world.
It doesn’t help to demonize those Americans who didn’t vote for this fascist coup. Unfortunately, other than participating in street protests or attending congressional town halls, which I did this weekend, we don’t have any individual power to stop this madness. I’m just praying I don’t lose my retirement savings as Trump’s economic policies trigger a global recession. And, yes, I apologize to Canada, Mexico, Panama, Greenland, Ukraine, Palestine, and a growing list of countries. Every day we wait for the next outrage.
It doesn't help to demonize anyone except for Trump/Musk/Vance and the cowardly Republicans in Congress and the administration.
The election was 4 months ago, get over it people. The people need to sue the Trump administration for EVERY single EO they release whether their lawsuit has merit or not.
Bondi cannot begin to defend all of these things with the incompetent and short-staff she has.
We need to continue emailing our Congress critters and Senators every day. If they are too chicken to hold a town hall then call their offices or email them.
Democratic Attorneys General have 100 lawsuits in, and more coming every day.
General strike:
https://generalstrikeus.com/strikecard
No one should be demonised except the fuckers in power.
If we refuse to pay the taxes we owe on April 15th, then we need a class action tax attorney....I guess Norm Eisen gets the legal referral fee?
You do though. A cousin waon group calling with Jamie Raskin. He said the calls and emails are effective.
"He is now your face to the world."
Not for long. Just you watch us. Yes, it's not going to happen overnight. Rooting out fascist dictators never does. But it always happens.
Terrence, we find no solace either.
Be careful: Trump and his MAGA cult actually WANT a confrontation in the streets. MLK’s heroism and wisdom was to march but stay peaceful despite the police dogs and batons. You will play into their hands if you act on your rage.
Don't forget to send postcards to the WH on 3/15.
Thanks Paul for all your notes, interviews and information. Too bad I can't use substack app as my iphone doesn't allow most recent operating system--another example of how capitalists suck up our cash. Please keep it up, I was a faithful reader of your NYT columns and was shocked and saddened when you left.
By the way you might want to cast a critical eye on the Economist, which blames Biden and Trudeau for inflation in their respective countries while inflation was worldwide and the US and Canada got through pretty well by supporting businesses and individuals during the pandemic.
Nick Acheson
The Economist is a joke and has been for a long time. They are shills of the oligarchy.
I removed them a couple of years ago from my news feed along with many of the other oligarchy owned publications like The NY Times, WAPO, LA Times, Time magazine and others.
I don't recall Krugman mentioning the Economist in any of his columns ever.
It’s been longer than a couple of years for The Economist. Back in the 2000s they ran an “analysis” of the collapse of the timber industry in the US Pacific Northwest and used a community 5 miles from my hometown to “explain” what happened. They blamed the Spotted Owl political issue. No mention of the actual economics like antiquated sawmill equipment, advances in engineered lumber that made Southern pine a competitive and less costly substitute for Doug fir, or higher labor costs. At that point it was clear The Economist is just another political rag.
I hate the ugly, soil destroying clear cuts that blight where I live. BUT, we need to do some serious logging and should have been logging for the last 5 years.
Climate change is killing the doug fir trees and now I live in a tinderbox where half the trees are standing dead.
I read an article in a local paper with an emotional cry against cutting green trees. Give me a break! By the time the tree is dead it isn't worth anything. Who is going to go out and process dead trees for free!! I'm doing it on my own property, but it's backbreaking work and I'm only looking at 100 acres. There are over 500,000 acres of dying forests. Our fire hazard is blinking red.
Now I have to worry that during this summer there won't be enough firefighters. They've shut down the usual fuel reduction programs. Those are mostly around the wildland/residential interfaces.
Interesting Lee. I meant that I finally ended my subscriptions to The NY Times and WAPO a couple of years ago, but I never have been a reader of The Economist. I prefer to follow Paul Krugman, Catherine Rampell and I really liked John Kenneth Galbreath when he was alive.
Gary, I respectfully disagree about The Economist. I’ve been a subscriber for 40 years. I liken it to a trusted film critic: usually insightful but be aware of the biases. Janet Maslin for example hated Clint Eastwood - go figure, Unforgiven? TE is anything but a shill for the oligarchs, and unlike WaPo it endorsed Biden (or rather, it dis-endorsed Trump as a threat).
I like the Economist. It's important to hear a wide variety of views. Their coverage of MAGA has been excellent. They have podcasts with are in-depth and excellent.
I'm leery of publications that don't have any conservative viewpoints. Sorry folks, the left can get way out there in the weeds too.
I have an iPhone and I don’t have any trouble with Substack
Well, how many times can I say this. There is a pattern here that is blindingly obvious.
Now a scientist (you don't need a lab coat to be a scientist, it's a way of thinking about things, it's a methodology for separating fact from fiction, and uncovering new truths) would look at this pattern and try to develop a model that explains and connects all the parts.
Think of the heliocentric model of the Solar System. A correct model becomes obvious when after adopting it, everything clicks into place.
So, what model is suggested by all these chaotic and sinister moves?
I'll use the all caps convention for screaming.
TRUMP INTENDS TO SEIZE POWER AND REMAIN IN OFFICE AFTER HIS TERM ENDS. HE WANTS TO OVERTHROW THE REPUBLIC.
Take two facts and see how they fit in the model.
1. Trump-Musk are working at warp speed to hollow out the government, place THEIR people in charge, and destroy all programs that make people independent.
2. Trump is ignoring public opinion. A President can make policy mistakes that promote a backlash, but a law-abiding President would quickly change course, especially if he wants to get re-elected.
Now, there are ways to safeguard our democracy, but the first step must be to recognize the danger and take it seriously.
I would also add:
3. Trump is betraying and hurting all its democratic allies in the world actively and allying with fascist Russia openly.
He is weakening democratic Ukraine in any way possible, so that his new ally Russia can win and Ukraine has to surrender. And Trump can boast that he alone made "peace".
Yes, all true. But not relevant to the model. What i am talking about is a purely domestic matter. It's important to not get distracted by extraneous matters that have no connection to the model. It's like saying, yes the sun is at the center, but what about the Hubble recession constant?
I disagree on this point: It is relevant and interconnected. But I know that most US citizens don't know much about the world and couldn't care less. They don't realize that their own private lives are interdependent on more than "gas and egg" prices, namely on the security order in the entire world. And this is influencing domestic affairs.
Why is it so consoling to read your trenchant analysis of these horrendous depredations first thing every morning? I guess because it proves that the whole world has not yet gone mad: there is at least one intelligent person out there perceiving and conveying the truth. Please keep it up, for all our sakes!
Many of the substack contributors are our news source. Heather Cox Richardson has over 2.2 million subscribers, The Contrarian signed up over 250,000 subscribers within a week of Rubin and Eisen leaving the WAPO. There are many other fantastic contributors here.
And then there's YouTube with it's many contributors as well.
The networks are almost all oligarchy owned as are X, Facebook and others.
In more direct language, Trump and his minions are blaming the Jews for any problems Trump policies have created. This process has quite a history. I just finished reading the Canterbury Tales, from 1400 England. One of them, which nowadays is sometimes omitted from the collection, is a fable about Jews killing a Christian boy. And Chaucer was a financial functionary of the government of the day.
Funny how you can simultaneously blame the Jews, support neo-Nazis as "undoubtably good people" and support the most extreme and delusional tendencies in Israeli politics. Well, scratch a tyrant, find a schizophrenic, I guess.
“support the most extreme and delusional tendencies in Israeli politics”
That’s because the apocalyptic evangelical “Christians” can’t wait for Israel to
fail so Jesus returns and smites everyone who ever disagreed with or ignored them. For them the sooner Israel alienates the world the faster this happens. In their minds we’ll finally all be jealous of them, which is what they really want regardless of how many people get hurt in the process. Jewish people are just a tool to get what they really want, which is the envy of all the people they think done them wrong.
Yes Lee, but note that Bibi happily accepts the support of US evangelicals in his cynical policies. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” until of course, he isn’t.
After elons salute Bibi said he was "a great friend of Israel," so there's all the proof we needed...
I think their motto is, whatever works.
Interesting. As I get older, the more I learn about the number of times scapegoats come into play for overzealous, insecure leaders; more often than not Jews. (And here we go again) I like the Canterbury Tales, looks like I’m going to have to hunt that one down to read it too. Thx.
It's no surprise. Herr Trump aspires to be the next Führer. You can't do that without demonizing "the Jews". That of course includes Marjorie Taylor Greene's "Jewish space lasers".
https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/antisemitism-in-the-oval-office?r=3nv7i4&utm_medium=ios
Oh do you want to dish about Chaucer? Brother in law of John of Gaunt? Who says literature only plays politics nowadays https://planetliterature.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/our-cousin-chaucer/
Seems like a good time to quote I.F. Stone: All governments lie, but disaster lies in wait for the people whose officials smoke the same hashish they give out.
Excellent and timely analysis, as usual, by Paul Krugman. I would love to know, though, how the author feels, or better, what his instinct tells him, whether the protests are strong and fast enough. For we know how fascist act - and please keep in mind that we are dealing with text-book example of fascist strategies at early stages - for every protest there is another violent and crazy move that attacks the core of democracy and the rule of law.
I think Krugman answered that. They aren't strong or fast enough.
I guess you are right, Still, it was be nice to see him directly answer early questions/comments. And also I for one don't feel that even he is raising the alarm strongly enough, but then I could be wrong.
We need to blanket our Senators and Representatives with calls and contact form emails. You can check out Hopium Chronicles by Simon Rosenberg here on Substack. We've been doing this since about January 24-25. The protests are going to get dangerous. Some of them already have resulted in violent responses, like the Tesla protest in Manhattan this past weekend. The NYPD were beating protesters and dragging them off for arrest.
I didn’t see or hear that the cops were beating the protesters. What is your source?
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/nine-arrested-new-york-tesla-dealership-anti-musk-protests-break-out-2025-03-02/
Thank you, but couldn’t read it since it’s behind a paywall.
I did read other articles about the arrests, but no mention of police beating the protesters.
You can video on YouTube. I watched the video from Forbes Breaking News on YouTube.
Again, thank you!
Amen.
Mike Johnson always has that smirk on his face. I can't wait until he's demoted to the minority. Him tanking that immigration bill because Daddy Trump told him to was despicable. Oh and a government shutdown! That'll be fun.
He’s a vile little cretin. I’d wish for him to be voted out but he’s from Louisiana & those people will never vote him out.
Trump's little Johnson accomplished virtually nothing from 2023-2024. They were shamed into helping Iraq and finally passing a delayed budget. And then the press had the gall to praise him for these actions.
He's a joke.
Hello from an Italian. Open a history book, look at the rise of Mussolini and you will see the similarities with Trump, similarities that the world has been warning you about for months. Then you will see what is about to happen to you and how to defend yourself.
And save idiotic statements that the area between Canada and Mexico is exceptional so it cannot happen: it has already happened.
At least Mussolini made the economy work better for awhile. A lot of authoritarians take over in bad economic times and make improvements at least for awhile. Putin, Orban both stepped in when things were bad economically and the government was failing.
Trump took over a good economy that had recovered from the pandemic and is trashing it.
Mussolini imposed autarchy: produce everything at home, sending all imports to hell with duties and threats. The economy went so badly that he sent soldiers to "break the backs of the Greeks" with cardboard shoes.
"Paid protesters" ?!?!
The GOP is copying Putin even in its media lines. Welcome to New Russia.
And Orban.
For a decade now the Republicans, Russia, and right wing political parties across the world have been using exactly the same talking points (which appear to have been written 35 years ago). They aren’t even trying to appear to write their own talking points. It’s reminiscent of grading term papers where everyone has selected the same paper from the fraternity bank of old term papers.
"And the beatings will continue until morale improves."
I'm old enough to remember what a ludicrous joke this was.
I love that meme. And it is so fitting when it comes to the corporate media still berating the Democrats for losing the election and for not having one united voice. Fuck that shit and concentrate on exposing the oligarchs for the greedy incompetent bastards they are.
I read Project 2025. Nothing they have done isn't in there. CA and Newsom were ready for this and are litigating it as much as they can. Newsom said they prepared for months for Trump becoming President.
"I love that meme. And it is so fitting when it comes to the corporate media still berating the Democrats for losing the election and for not having one united voice."
Words cannot express how exhausted I am by this.
"Why won't Democrats do something!" our compatriots shriek. No demands for the party that has the full power to subpoena Musk, investigate DOGE, impeach Trump, and remove him from office. Just not worth talking about their failures, I suppose.
And honestly it's not just the corporate media, it's most liberals on social media too. We have been trained to turn all our criticism on ourselves or our allies and consider the opposition's actions to be written in stone and unworthy of protest. (Not many protests on campuses this spring, I guess Gaza is doing okay? Oh, no, things are worse than ever and our government isn't even trying to improve them? Oh well.)
Normies notice the vibe, guys. Have some #@$! pride. Democrats are doing a lot of different things, which means there is probably one or more out there doing what you like. Maybe pay attention to them and highlight what they're doing instead of whining about Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer like it's going to help literally anything ever.
Thanks to Professor Krugman for this timely message.
Professor Krugman mentions the American business oligarchs who might be beginning to have doubts about Donald and Elon. My question is, what took them so long?
Actually, I was surprised during the recent political campaign at the number of "business leaders" and "captains of industry" who claim to believe that Donald has lots of "business smarts" and would be good for the economy. I know that there are many low information voters who think that Donald was a great businessman because they saw him on The Apprentice. But should not the CEOs of major banks and corporations know better?
Have they just found out that Donald and Elon don't know what they are doing? In the case of Donald, he has been on the national stage for over ten years. That is plenty of time to get to know him and to find out that in The Apprentice, he was not actually running a real business.
That shows us that our "business leaders" are not that smart either. There are many people who think that if someone has lots of money and acts nutty, then he/she must be a genius.
MAGA Mike claims to be very religious. It is always odd to see and hear very religious people breaking one of the ten commandments -- specifically the admonition against bearing false witness. Does anyone believe anything he says?
Greed took them so long Aubrey. Trump promised to extend the tax cuts and to lower the corporate tax rate. All of the money he is trying to save by firing Federal employees is to not increase the deficit. The same with the tariffs. He thinks he can raise enough from tariffs to bamboozle the CBO into recognizing the value of the tariffs. Trump is just a useful idiot to the oligarchs and he will be until he becomes a liability to them.
Fortunately, Canada is already fighting back by pulling all American made alcohol off of their shelves in many provinces. BC has gone even further by only pulling those products that are made in red states. So Jack Daniels is out and west coast wines are in.
I wonder if the business leaders decided that if you can't beat them, you'd better join them.
You might like to read an article by Steven Rattner in the NYT of March 3. He reports that even in private, many business "leaders" support Donald's economic ideas.
I read it. I wasn't impressed.
I bet a lot of business leaders support Trump's ideas of less taxation on the wealthy, deregulation and ease of paying for access, minor corruption that benefits them but not so significant that it wreaks everything.
Right now, it's like the early days of 2008, you can almost hear the brakes slamming and everything skidding to a halt.
A friend of mine who was considering moving lost a chunk of her retirement portfolio and has decided to hunker down.
CONFIDENCE is a key to financial systems, not CHAOS.